


azure

by haejeok



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29351007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haejeok/pseuds/haejeok
Summary: in the middle of an endless desert, he is found.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	azure

**Author's Note:**

> still trying to get back into the groove of writing again, but i finished this tiny thing and i liked it more than i thought i would. i hope you do too!

Seonghwa finds him again in a desert far from home.

The heat is stifling. The horizon wavers in every direction. The sun is too bright, too imposing and the sweat dripping into Seonghwa’s eyes makes it impossible for him to see. He’s surrounded by nothing but sand for miles and he’s long since forgotten which direction is north. He’ll have to wait for nightfall and hope that the stars will guide him. If he can survive the heat of the day, that is.

He doesn’t remember how he ended up in this desert. Was it a punishment? If it was, then what was his crime? Had it been something so awful that he’d been banished to the kingdom of fire, left to his own devices, with only the knowledge that he likely wouldn’t survive longer than a week in this hellacious environment?

All he can do is keep walking. Stumbling. It feels like he’s getting dragged into quicksand, but when he looks down at his feet and wipes his eyes, he can see that his legs are simply starting to give out. Seonghwa collapses onto his knees, falling forward to brace himself on his hands. His arms shake violently. It would be so easy to fall into the sand, to finally let his body rest...

Seonghwa’s eyes fall shut and he can’t muster up the energy to open them again.

He is going to die here.

He is so close to succumbing and letting the desert sands wash over him, hiding the fact that he’d ever existed in this place. He’s overwhelmed by the sense of calm that rushes through his body; just as he’s about to give in, he hears it.

Laughter.

Seonghwa is pulled out of his stupor enough to wander away from the edge, though he still can’t muster the strength to open his eyes. Laughter... 

It can’t be. 

Not when he’d be wandering for days and nights, hoping for a glimpse of life in this endless desert. Who could survive in this place? How had they found him?

Whoever this unknown person is laughs again and this time, the sound is closer. “Please,” Seonghwa whispers through trembling lips, his voice rough from disuse and dehydration. “Please—who—” His shaking arms finally give out and he collapses into the sand, whimpering at the heat against his face. 

“Seonghwa.” The whisper of his name travels along the hot winds that blow across the desert. Seonghwa shudders violently at the sound of his name.

“Please,” Seonghwa begs, curling into himself. “Please, save me.”

This time, when he hears his name again, Seonghwa can feel the presence of someone beside him. Suddenly, something cool presses against the side of his face. He cries out at the touch, cringing away from the icy temperature while simultaneously reaching out blindly to grasp more of it. It is a welcome oasis in the middle of this hell. 

Seonghwa feels his weak body being pulled into a cold embrace. He clings desperately to the human figure holding him, feeling comforted by the strange and confusing familiarity of its form. He’s been held in an embrace like this before. He feels safe now because he knows this person’s touch. But who could it be?

“Have you forgotten me?” The voice is soft, melodic. It’s a voice Seonghwa has heard so many times before, a voice he thought he had forgotten. Seonghwa feels as if he’s been pulled from the brink of death just from being held and spoken to.

He opens his eyes. The blue robes in front of him contrast greatly with the barren, colorless desert surrounding them. He gasps and reaches out to grip the fabric in one hand. He could never forget that shade of blue or the man wearing it.

“Hongjoong,” Seonghwa whispers. The arms wrapped around him tighten. 

“I’ve finally found you.” Hongjoong says. “After all this time.”

The desert wind howls all around them as the sun continues to blaze. Seonghwa’s eyes fall shut but he knows that now he is safe. They will find their way out of the kingdom of fire together.


End file.
